With the iCampus Prize, we work with Edwin Guarin at Microsoft. Edwin’s a technology evangalist with local colleges and universities and is passionate about the Imagine Cup. Over the last couple years we’ve been working to raise the awareness of the Imagine Cup with MIT students, not the least of which because the goals align nicely with the iCampus Prize.
Coming out of this year’s finals, David Strom at ReadWriteWeb wrote an article titled: Microsoft’s Imagine Cup Student Software Contest Holds Lessons for Startups.
I’d like to bring two of the items he mentions to the attention of potential iCampus Prize submitters…
“Great presentation skills. Each team had just minutes to present its slides and demonstrate its solution. The better teams structured their presentation to match the judging requirements and also rehearsed their speeches to make sure they could deliver them in the allotted time. On the other end of the spectrum, some presenters sat in their chairs when addressing the judges. Entrepreneurs who aren’t polished presenters should go to their local Toastmasters branch or take a course in public speaking at a community college.”
“They got to the point, quickly. Some of the losing teams took too long to set up their solution, focusing on matters that weren’t germane to the judging criteria. Founders need to be ruthless when trimming slide decks to make them as crisp as possible. When you are pitching an investor or potential partner, make sure you hone your own presentations so that they are succinct and on-point. Think Twitter: If you can’t formulate your message in less than 140 characters, work on another message.”
These are two things that you can do to improve your presentations for the iCampus Prize